Saturday, April 02, 2016

Toilets NOT in Restrooms: Next for Transgender

(Caution: News articles below are NOT satire.)Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City is the first college in the nation to designate all restrooms as "genderless" by replacing men/women signage with a simple designation of the type of toilet fixtures found inside (toilets, urinals, partitions, etc.).What's next? Because privacy has been deemed unnecessary, doors should simply be removed so that the type of fixtures and partitions may be viewed prior to entry, but even better, for safety (to counteract sexual predators), architects' new designs should place toilets and urinals in open spaces — along hallways, for example.

“We, who are in positions of power, have the obligation to not only stand with those without power, but to stand in front of them, clearing a path for them to walk.” [and pee!]-- Bill Mea, Cooper Union acting president

Bill Mea, acting president of the Cooper Union, informed his campus via email that soon all the college's bathrooms will be gender neutral. Anyone will be allowed to use any bathroom, and the signs designating bathrooms for either men or women will be replaced with signs that say either “Restroom With Urinals and Stalls,” “Restroom With Only Stalls” or “Restroom Single Occupancy.”

. . . many colleges and universities around the country have been slowly expanding support for transgender students by adding gender-neutral, single-stall bathrooms around campus or simply allowing people to use the bathroom that aligns with the gender identity. But Cooper Union appears to be the first college to completely eliminate gender distinctions in bathrooms.

The policy change arose out of a yearslong push by student activists for reform and an impromptu on-campus test of the policy. Several transgender students at Cooper Union began fighting for “degendered” campus bathrooms about two years ago and were joined along the way by up to 50 more students and others who helped in various ways. Last fall, some of them removed the signs from bathrooms in a building on campus and left in their place banners reading just “Bathroom :)” or “Degendered.”

. . . Cooper Union’s decision was not the product of a bruising legal battle or a drawn-out showdown before the media. And although it took nearly two years of urging by the student activists for the administration to act, the campus of 950 engineering and arts students doesn’t exactly feel battle-scarred.

“Cooper Union has always been on the forward edge of social justice issues,” [Acting President Bill] Mea said in a recent interview. “From the start, in 1859, we admitted women, African Americans. It has always been an institution that promoted equality amongst people.

“I never got any overt bigotry or nastiness,” he added. “Some would have preferred to keep things exactly as they were. But the majority of them were very supportive. People thought, ‘Why is this an issue at all?’ As in, why aren’t we already doing this?”

“When there’s a gendered space, there’s a sense of ownership to that space,” Mea said, explaining why the school chose to remove the men’s and women’s signs altogether. “When people see someone who they think doesn’t belong there, it can create stress for everyone. So we thought, let’s just take that away.” Almost all students and faculty are continuing to use the same bathrooms without issue, Mea added. “Visitors are figuring it out pretty quickly, too.”

I thank our students who raised the issue of gendered spaces and how they create health concerns and make some of us feel unsafe in an environment where health and safety are the top priorities in a student’s ability to learn. As is often the case, our students are at the forefront of raising both concerns and our consciousness on matters of importance. . . .

We, who are in positions of power, have the obligation to not only stand with those without power, but to stand in front of them, clearing a path for them to walk. I cannot change the outside world and how it treats transgender and gender non-conforming people, but I can change the Cooper Union environment to help everyone feel safe when they are inside our buildings. Please know that my decision comes from a personal sense of obligation to others, which is a reflection of my beliefs and, I believe, an extension of the beliefs held by our founder.

Going forward, we will identify the restrooms in the Foundation Building and 41 Cooper Square and the common-area restrooms in the Residence Hall as follows:

Restroom with Urinals and Stalls
Restroom with Only Stalls
Restroom Single Occupancy

We are creatures of habit and most of us will continue using those restrooms that we normally have used, but they will no longer be owned by a specific gender. I also ask that none of us practice gender policing, where we attempt to restrict someone from using the same restroom we are using or make them feel uncomfortable for doing so. If you feel uncomfortable sharing a restroom, then the single-occupancy restrooms will now be available to you. As with all changes, this will take a little time to implement, so please be patient as we work through the signage and lock (single-occupancy restrooms) changes.